IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Sri Lanka

Rain, mudslides displace thousands

Twenty-four people are dead and eight others are missing due to floods and mudslides caused by incessant rain in Sri Lanka during the past week, officials said on Sunday. About 106,000 people have lost their homes or evacuated to safer locations, the disaster management center said.

Greece

Passengers plead to be rescued

Desperate passengers pleaded via mobile phone to be saved from a burning ferry off the Greek island of Corfu on Sunday as rescuers battled gale-force winds to get to them.

But with gusts of up to 100 kilometers per hour making rescue difficult and dangerous, the crew has so far only managed to get 150 of the 478 people off the stricken Norman Atlantic, Greek officials said.

Lawmakers in new bid to elect chief

Lawmakers in debt-laden Greece will on Monday try for a third and final time to elect a new president and avoid a snap general election that could undermine the country's international bailout. The definitive round of voting to choose a successor to President Karolos Papoulias comes during last-ditch efforts by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to get the government's candidate elected and avert early polls.

Ukraine

Malfunction shuts nuclear reactor

Ukraine on Sunday shut down one of the six reactors in its most powerful nuclear power plant for the second time in a month due to an apparent electrical malfunction. The Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant said on its website that radiation levels in the area remained normal and that the station's other five reactors continued to operate without any problems.

Liberia

Ex-soccer player wins senate seat

Former world soccer player of the year George Weah has won a seat in Liberia's Senate to represent the capital, defeating the son of the president and boosting his political fortunes ahead of a presidential election in 2017. Weah won the Montserrado County seat that includes the capital Monrovia with 78 percent of the vote, defeating Robert Sirleaf, the son of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia's National Elections Commission said late on Saturday.

Croatia

Balkan nation holds presidential poll

Croatians go to the polls on Sunday to elect a president under the cloud of a deep economic crisis, with incumbent Ivo Josipovic seen as the frontrunner as he seeks a second term in the EU's newest member state. Surveys ahead of the vote showed that of the four candidates vying for the post, the center-left leader had only one serious rival - Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic of the opposition HDZ.

Iran

Iran tests own Skyguard system

Iran successfully tested its Skyguard Air Defense System on Saturday to shoot down hypothetical enemy drones in massive drills in southern parts of the country, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. The Skyguard missile defense system was put on test on the third day of the ongoing military exercises.

Venezuela

Record-breaking store closes doors

An ice cream store listed in the Guinness World Records book for its 863 different flavors has become the latest victim of Venezuela's economic crisis. "We are closed during the season due to shortage of milk," the famous Coromoto ice cream store in the highland town of Merida announced on its Facebook page.

AP - AFP - Reuters - Xinhua

(China Daily 12/29/2014 page11)